This man has been a fantastic writer on many topics- I have reshared his post often personally. Thank you for sharing it again here as well. This group gives Loki his due, but other groups often do not.

In a time when people idolize being "progressive", those new to Odinism often bring their prejudice and often strangle our ways of expression with their dichotic views instilled in them from their prior religious indoctrination in monotheism.

On mistake that I think many Asatruar is that they sometimes forget that every single one of our Gods and Goddesses have qualities that could be viewed as positive or negative depending on one's point of view. To truly understand any of the Elder Kin you have to take a look at their entire range of characteristics. While Loki was not extensively honored by the ancients it is likely that he was not truly vilified until Christianity took hold and they needed a Satanic figure.

On mistake that I think many Asatruar is that they sometimes forget that every single one of our Gods and Goddesses have qualities that could be viewed as positive or negative depending on one's point of view. To truly understand any of the Elder Kin you have to take a look at their entire range of characteristics. While Loki was not extensively honored by the ancients it is likely that he was not truly vilified until Christianity took hold and they needed a Satanic figure.

I don't understand why Odinists would even care which deities other Odinists follow. They should just be glad these are people all following the same pantheon, and not the Jewish, Christian or Muslim god. It seems pretty petty to me to tell members of the community that it is forbidden to openly follow this or that deity.

Totally agree Fand, in all honesty it was prob my first major issue with Christianity that led me to question my mother's faith (I was dragged up Catholic) it seems even our native religion is open to the same in fighting that plagues the desert religions. Though this is prob a headache left over from today's society being so brainwashed by 100's of years of Christianity, old habits die hard and all that.

Totally agree Fand, in all honesty it was prob my first major issue with Christianity that led me to question my mother's faith (I was dragged up Catholic) it seems even our native religion is open to the same in fighting that plagues the desert religions. Though this is prob a headache left over from today's society being so brainwashed by 100's of years of Christianity, old habits die hard and all that.

That is a good point too. That is why I am not a member of any national or international Odinist organizations. I think the AFA and Odinic Rite are great organizations that do a lot of good for our folk, but it reminds me too much of Xian denominations. There have been a lot of people write about how that destroys our spirituality (someone recently posted a link to a blog post talking about this).On the one hand these groups are great at guiding people back to the old ways. On the other hand, there are people who would just fall in rank and believe what they are told. I can't be mad at them for that, and like I say, I am thankful there are all these organizations. When I mention the AFA in this, I don't know what their official stance is, if any, on Loki. I do know that the Odinic Rite will not accept someone who openly venerates Loki. I asked. They sent me some links to some articles on their website. They were very interesting, but that is when I realized that I did not want to be a member of the Odinic Rite, because I have many fundamental disagreements. That isn't to say that I am right and they are wrong, but I feel like there is so much that we will not know in this life, anyways, and to divide over things that we really do not know for a fact, is silly to me.

In my opinion, this is one thing that makes the Odin Brotherhood part of the elite. There are many reasons. The Odin Brotherhood mentions that it survived all those years with the "teeth marks of christianity". I am sure, but I see these teeth marks are much deeper in other groups. After having experienced other groups, I find myself wishing that I could hold a blot with members of the OB. That would be a wonderful experience. It may never happen and that is ok...but every solstice and October 31 when I don my white shroud, I always think of how many others might be doing the same thing, alone.

Through this forum, I have become much less judgemental of other people. There are people here who I have never met who I would disagree fervently with on certain things, yet because of the authenticity that I feel they possess, I can not help but respect them. I am just happy that so many are coming back to their roots...even if it is in a different way than I have.

I find myself wishing that I could hold a blot with members of the OB. That would be a wonderful experience. It may never happen and that is ok...but every solstice and October 31 when I don my white shroud, I always think of how many others might be doing the same thing, alone.

In time, you will find that you will encounter Odin Brotherhood men and women in unexpected ways. When that ocurs, rituals may happen with a comrade.

The quickest way to have companionship, of course, is to spread the lore to another.

I find myself wishing that I could hold a blot with members of the OB. That would be a wonderful experience. It may never happen and that is ok...but every solstice and October 31 when I don my white shroud, I always think of how many others might be doing the same thing, alone.

In time, you will find that you will encounter Odin Brotherhood men and women in unexpected ways. When that ocurs, rituals may happen with a comrade.

The quickest way to have companionship, of course, is to spread the lore to another.

Being a teacher can be more useful than being a student.

Thank you for that.There is one person who knows the path that I follow. I don't know if he is on this forum or not. We hold rituals together. We have an agreement that if I die before him and I end up not getting the burial that I want and instead end up in a chapel with people talking about jeebus to crash the funeral and tell everyone "He didn't believe any of that Xian ****. Hail Odin!" :)

Sweinodinsson, you always have such a wonderful way with words. I totally get how you feel, and it has been such a relief to me to stumble upon the OB. It really would be nice to know some of the people here in person, especially as finding such deep and inspiring people in my everyday life is so ridiculously rare.I have learned so much in the time that I've been frequenting this forum, and for that am very grateful. I've been walking my path alone from day 1, with only occassional fleeting exceptions, and I'm fine with that. I'd rather walk alone than to follow a herd of brainwashed cattle just to have companions. Anyways, one good friend is worth more than a thousand acquaintances, imo.

Sweinodinsson, you always have such a wonderful way with words. I totally get how you feel, and it has been such a relief to me to stumble upon the OB. It really would be nice to know some of the people here in person, especially as finding such deep and inspiring people in my everyday life is so ridiculously rare.I have learned so much in the time that I've been frequenting this forum, and for that am very grateful. I've been walking my path alone from day 1, with only occassional fleeting exceptions, and I'm fine with that. I'd rather walk alone than to follow a herd of brainwashed cattle just to have companions. Anyways, one good friend is worth more than a thousand acquaintances, imo.

Thank you for the complement. If you were to meet me in person, you might think I was a dumb redneck who doesn't know how to communicate in words. It is a blessing. My thoughts are most easily expressed in writing. I have a few local friends who I consider more like brothers, because they have seen past my slow and sometimes stumbling speech and learned who I really am.

In my opinion, this is one thing that makes the Odin Brotherhood part of the elite. There are many reasons. The Odin Brotherhood mentions that it survived all those years with the "teeth marks of christianity". I am sure, but I see these teeth marks are much deeper in other groups. After having experienced other groups, I find myself wishing that I could hold a blot with members of the OB. That would be a wonderful experience. It may never happen and that is ok...but every solstice and October 31 when I don my white shroud, I always think of how many others might be doing the same thing, alone.

Good point, though the whole western world bears the teeth marks of Christianity (the world even! Back when Spain and Portugal were big players the pope divided the world up between them and gave them the blessing to plunder so long as they spread the "good word".

As for loki, Maria Kvilhaug in The poetic edda - 6 old Norse cosmology poems she postulates that "Gods and other supernatural entities that held a life of their own within the Odinist religion, beings revered, feared, invoked and worshipped in various ways – are, in Old Norse poetry, to a great degree taken out of their religious context in order to serve as literary characters. The ancient and (to the Odinists) well known entities and their many names were employed in poetry to fulfill a function as metaphor and symbol of the many different powers that rule our lives from within the human mind and from the greater cosmos." Whilst this is no doubt her opinion, it does raise an interesting point. Much of what we know of Loki may be coloured by poetic license and not supposed to be taken literally. I liked reading stories of Loki when I was a lad, yes he was mischievous but he usually made amends in the end (and was always a fun read lol)

I also think there is a danger of taking religion far too seriously, we need to remember that our gods have a sense of humour, haven't we had enough of the stern, judgmental jealous god of the desert?

Last edited by Skygge on Fri Mar 17, 2017 9:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sweinodinsson, you always have such a wonderful way with words. I totally get how you feel, and it has been such a relief to me to stumble upon the OB. It really would be nice to know some of the people here in person, especially as finding such deep and inspiring people in my everyday life is so ridiculously rare.I have learned so much in the time that I've been frequenting this forum, and for that am very grateful. I've been walking my path alone from day 1, with only occassional fleeting exceptions, and I'm fine with that. I'd rather walk alone than to follow a herd of brainwashed cattle just to have companions. Anyways, one good friend is worth more than a thousand acquaintances, imo.

Thank you for the complement. If you were to meet me in person, you might think I was a dumb redneck who doesn't know how to communicate in words. It is a blessing. My thoughts are most easily expressed in writing. I have a few local friends who I consider more like brothers, because they have seen past my slow and sometimes stumbling speech and learned who I really am.

You're welcome, and I doubt I would think any such thing if I were to meet you in person. I'm a southern girl, myself, and have spent my entire life surrounded by rednecks.Its strange, but when I want to have a conversation, I'm better with the spoken word and struggle to put my thoughts to words in writing (except for creative writing, oddly). My brother I are a couple of motor mouths! Lol! My husband always says I should be a politician because I can argue anything, even when I don't know what I'm talking about. ;)

In my opinion, this is one thing that makes the Odin Brotherhood part of the elite. There are many reasons. The Odin Brotherhood mentions that it survived all those years with the "teeth marks of christianity". I am sure, but I see these teeth marks are much deeper in other groups. After having experienced other groups, I find myself wishing that I could hold a blot with members of the OB. That would be a wonderful experience. It may never happen and that is ok...but every solstice and October 31 when I don my white shroud, I always think of how many others might be doing the same thing, alone.

Good point, though the whole western world bears the teeth marks of Christianity (the world even! Back when Spain and Portugal were big players the pope divided the world up between them and gave them the blessing to plunder so long as they spread the "good word".

As for loki, Maria Kvilhaug in The poetic eddy - 6 old Norse cosmology poems she postulates that "Gods and other supernatural entities that held a life of their own within the Odinist religion, beings revered, feared, invoked and worshipped in various ways – are, in Old Norse poetry, to a great degree taken out of their religious context in order to serve as literary characters. The ancient and (to the Odinists) well known entities and their many names were employed in poetry to fulfill a function as metaphor and symbol of the many different powers that rule our lives from within the human mind and from the greater cosmos." Whilst this is no doubt her opinion, it does raise an interesting point. Much of what we know of Loki may be coloured by poetic license and not supposed to be taken literally. I liked reading stories of Loki when I was a lad, yes he was mischievous but he usually made amends in the end (and was always a fun read lol)

I also think there is a danger of taking religion far too seriously, we need to remember that our gods have a sense of humour, haven't we had enough of the stern, judgmental jealous god of the desert?

Well said. Someone on this forum said something along the lines of getting out in the quiet of nature and experiencing the gods for oneself, rather than trying to know them through books, and I think that is excellent advice. Not to say that books don't have their place, but ultimately we must experience life, the gods and spirituality ourselves, rather than only read about others doing so.